Preprints, non-peer reviewed studies can cause false alarms and chaos in coronaviruses

Information is important in a global emergency such as the current coronavirus pandemic. And the speed with which that information arrives is also important. However, you may want to sacrifice accuracy for efficiency. SFor example, social media is used by scientists and doctors to publish information quickly.

However, another source of information that is gaining popularity among researchers is preprints. This is an academic research paper that was pre-submitted to a publicly accessible server before being peer-reviewed.

However, Arstechnica It has been reported that problems may arise if unidentified research is made publicly available. In particular, recent bold claims about coronavirus mutations can cause problems.

(Photo: Reuters / Brendan McDermid)
Scientists are working in a lab testing COVID-19 samples in the New York City Health Department during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New York City, NY, April 23, 2020. I am. Taken April 23, 2020.

Preprints can cause misinformation, anxiety, and confusion during a coronavirus pandemic

Traditionally, scientists share their findings through peer-reviewed journals. A scientist or team of scientists conducts research, drafts the results, and submits them to a journal or interdisciplinary publication covering that particular discipline. Nature Or Science.

When the journal receives the article, it sends a copy for review and sends it to a scientist in the same discipline or to a peer scientist. They criticize the paper for flaws in methodologies and analysis or other potential problems. If not found, the paper will be published.

However, the usual result of a peer review is to find what the reviewer considers unacceptable or inadequate. They send it to the editor, who forwards the concern to the author. The author then tackles the problem before the editor accepts the study for publication.

The process is not perfect and takes time, but sufficient caution is applied to the study.

Preprint community

The peer-reviewed method of publication is hundreds of years old. But in the 1990s, physics researchers decided to enhance it with the relatively new Internet. They created a server like arXiv, A storage room for research publications that have not yet been peer-reviewed and published.

These researchers then began sharing the paper with the research community. Scientists were able to read the studies and talk to each other before the findings were printed, hence the name “preprint”.

The popularity of preprints has led to more servers being created for the following medical sciences: bioRxiv And medRxiv. While scientists can easily publish their findings, young researchers can show their work to funding agencies and recruiters to demonstrate their productivity while awaiting nods from peer reviews.

According to a study conducted in 2019, the number of papers stored in bioRxiv has increased rapidly since it was created in 2014. Similarly, the number of downloads from biorXiv is increasing.

However, the study also found that two-thirds of the preprints posted on bioRxiv within the first four years were published in peer-reviewed journals.

Where is the problem?

Many scientists support preprints, but not everyone does. These oppositions are based on policies prohibiting the promotion of unpublished research papers.

Other scientists are also worried that submitting their work to a preprint server could allow rivals to compete with them in publishing. More importantly, unpolished or inaccurate work can fall into the hands of readers who cannot fully evaluate it.

For example, an unfinished study of something more contagious Virus mutation Reported in the midst of a global pandemic, it can lead to fear, anxiety, and even confusion.

Peer review is not always perfect, but if the report in the media comes from a preprint, then probably treat it with one more salt than normal.

Also read: SARS-CoV-2 replicated to scientists! Another researcher died

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